Hiram king of Tyre: See 5.1.

Cedar and cypress: See the comments on 1 Kgs 4.33 and 5.8 regarding the identification of these trees.

The Hebrew says simply that Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee without indicating why. The most obvious reason would seem to be that this was in exchange for the timber and gold that Hiram had supplied to Solomon. Some scholars, however, suggest that Solomon sold these cities to Hiram in order to raise money.

The English word “villages” or “towns” (Good News Translation) is a more appropriate translation here for these cities, as Gray notes.

The land of Galilee refers most probably to the area along the northern border of Israel in the general vicinity of the territory belonging to Hiram. In languages that can make such distinctions, the word “region” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “territory” (New Jerusalem Bible) is probably more suitable than land.

As noted in the discussion on verse 10, the end of verse 11 belongs with verse 10, since the first part of verse 11 is background information, explaining why Solomon gave these cities to Hiram. Revised English Bible reorders verse 11 as follows: “he made over to Hiram king of Tyre twenty towns in Galilee, for Hiram had supplied him with….” New Jerusalem Bible and Gray place the first part of verse 11 within parentheses, showing that these words are parenthetical, but this will not be effective when the text is being heard and not seen. These two verses may be combined and restructured to say:

• At the end of twenty years, King Solomon gave to King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in the land of Galilee. Solomon did this because during those twenty years Hiram had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he wanted in order to build the Temple and his own palace.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .